There are many industrial operations wherein steel tape is used extensively and abusively to the extent that worn and broken tape frequently requires replacement. For example, in the lumber industry, when a tree is felled, the reel is held or anchored at one end of the tree and a worker moves rapidly to the other end of the tree to measure the length, often causing the steel tape to impact against or bend around tree branches, as well as rocks and other impediments on the ground. Replacement of the tape requires loosening of screws to remove the old tape and then inserting the new tape, fastening it to the reel and reeling it up, all while restraining it from becoming uncoiled. It is virtually impossible for all this to be done by one person.